Good news on House Bill 2368. This is the bill that was introduced to strip policy making authority from the wildlife commission and give it to a legislative committee. According to a recent newspaper article, the sponsors felt this was needed because they felt the commission had been co-opted by "special interest groups" who were using their own science to replace the science of the WDFW.

There is a Feb. 8th deadline for all bills to be out of committee. 2368 is not even scheduled for a hearing until after the deadline is passed. While it is always possible for deadlines to be extended, given the budget issues the house is dealing with this year, it is extremely unlikely that a wildlife bill would be granted this honor.

Since this is the second year of the biennium, all bills automatically die at the end of the session. This means the sponsors would have to re-introduce the bill next year.

There will be a hearing after Feb. 8th, which the NRC members will use to be educated on the issues. The WSC will be distributing the white paper to both the Senate and House Natural Resources Committees to use as a reference material should the discussion turn to wild steelhead release.

OC

02-01-2002, 04:00 PM

Mr Buck had no intentions or hope of having his bill passed. It was introduced late just as a reminder to the F&G commission that we bonkers from forks are watching you, so be carefull how you vote next week!